There are barbarians who seize this dog, who so prodigiously surpasses man in friendship, and nail him down to a table, and dissect him alive to show you the mezaraic veins... Answer me, Machinist, has Nature really arranged all the springs of feeling in this animal to the end that he might not feel? Has he nerves that he may be incapable of suffering?

History consists of a series of accumulated imaginative inventions.

Religion may be purified. This great work was begun two hundred years ago: but men can only bear light to come in upon them by degrees.

Of all religions, Christianity is without a doubt the one that should inspire tolerance most

Alas...I too have known love, that ruler of hearts, that soul of our soul: it's never brought me anything except one kiss and twenty kicks in the rump. How could such a beautiful cause produce such an abominable effect on you?

To really enjoy pleasures, you must know how to leave them.

If this is the best of possible worlds, what then are the others?